2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

 

Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation

 

The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries, EyeGate Pharma S.A.S. and Jade (since date of acquisition), collectively referred to as “the Company”. All inter-company balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. These Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for interim financial information. Certain information and disclosures normally included in Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been condensed or eliminated. Accordingly, these unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the annual financial statements of the Company as of and for the year ended December 31, 2017.

 

Unaudited Interim Financial Information

 

The accompanying interim financial statements and related disclosures are unaudited, have been prepared on the same basis as the annual financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments, which consist of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair presentation of the results of operations for the periods presented. The year-end balance sheet was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP. The results of operations for an interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year or for any other future year or interim period.

 

Use of Estimates

 

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting periods. The Company makes significant estimates and assumptions in recording the accruals for its clinical trial and research activities, establishing the useful lives of intangible assets and property and equipment, and conducting impairment reviews of long-lived assets. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and various other assumptions that it believes to be reasonable under the circumstances. Although the Company monitors and regularly assesses these estimates, actual results could differ significantly from these estimates. The Company records changes in estimates in the period that it becomes aware of the change.

 

 Research and Development Expenses

 

The Company expenses research and development (“R&D”) expenditures as incurred. R&D expenses are comprised of costs incurred in performing R&D activities, including salaries, benefits, facilities, research-related overhead, sponsored research costs, contracted services, license fees, expenses related to generating, filing, and maintaining intellectual property and other external costs. Because the Company believes that, under its current process for developing its products, the viability of the products is essentially concurrent with the establishment of technological feasibility, no costs have been capitalized to date.

 

In-process Research and Development

 

The Company records in-process R&D projects acquired in asset acquisitions that have not reached technological feasibility and which have no alternative future use. For in-process R&D projects acquired in business combinations, the Company capitalizes the in-process R&D project and periodically evaluates this asset for impairment until the R&D process has been completed. Once the R&D process is complete, the Company amortizes the R&D asset over its remaining useful life. At March 31, 2018, the Company has recorded $3,912,314 of in-process R&D, as part of goodwill and in-process R&D on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.

 

Accrued Clinical Expenses

 

As part of the Company’s process of preparing the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, the Company is required to estimate its accrued expenses. This process includes reviewing open contracts and purchase orders, communicating with its applicable personnel to identify services that have been performed on its behalf and estimating the level of service performed and the associated costs incurred for the service when the Company has not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of actual costs. The majority of the Company’s service providers invoice monthly in arrears for services performed. The Company makes estimates of its accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date in the financial statements based on facts and circumstances known at the time. The Company periodically confirms the accuracy of these estimates with the service providers and makes adjustments if necessary.

 

Related Party Transactions

 

The Company has entered into certain related-party transactions, making payments for services to one vendor, ten consultants and two public universities, all of whom also are stockholders of the Company. These transactions generally are ones that involve a stockholder or option holder of the Company to whom we also make payments during the year, typically as a consultant or a service provider. The amounts recorded or paid are not material to the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

Net Loss per Share

 

The computation of Net Loss per Common Share – Basic and Diluted, is based on the weighted-average number of shares outstanding of Common Stock. In computing diluted loss per share, no effect has been given to the shares of common stock issuable upon the conversion or exercise of the following dilutive securities, as the Company’s net loss would make the effect anti-dilutive. 

 

 

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

 

 

At March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, the Company had no other assets or liabilities that are subject to fair value methodology and estimation in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

     

Revenue Recognition

 

The Company’s revenues are generated primarily through arrangements which generally contain multiple elements, or deliverables, including licenses and R&D activities to be performed by the Company on behalf of the licensor or grantor. Payments to EyeGate under these arrangements typically include one or more of the following: (1) nonrefundable, upfront license fees, (2) funding of discovery research efforts on a full-time equivalent basis, (3) reimbursement of research, development and intellectual property costs, (4) milestone payments, and (5) royalties on future product sales.

 

On July 9, 2015, the Company entered into an exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement with a subsidiary of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (“Valeant”), through which the Company granted to Valeant an exclusive, worldwide commercial and manufacturing right to the Company’s EGP-437 Product in the field of anterior uveitis, as well as a right of last negotiation to license its EGP-437 Product for indications other than anterior uveitis (the “Valeant Agreement”). There are four principal R&D milestones under the Valeant Agreement: (i) the Phase 3 Clinical Trial, (ii) the Endothelial Cell Count Safety Trial (a trial to determine that treatment has not adversely affected a patient’s corneal endothelial cell density), (iii) the CMC Validation, and (iv) the New Drug Application, or “NDA”, filing with the FDA (collectively, the “Four Milestones”, and each individually, a “Milestone”). Under the Valeant Agreement, Valeant paid to the Company an initial upfront payment of $1.0 million and the Company is eligible to receive milestone payments totaling up to $32.5 million, upon and subject to the achievement of certain specified development and commercial progress of the EGP-437 Product for the treatment of anterior uveitis. The Company has received milestone payments totaling approximately $4.1 million through March 31, 2018. The Company receives payments both when it crosses certain thresholds on the way to each Milestone (each, a “Progress Payment”), as well as once it achieves each Milestone. The Company is entitled to retain all of these payments. In accordance with its former revenue recognition policy, through December 31, 2017 the initial upfront payment and milestone payments were recorded as Deferred Revenue. In addition, the Company is eligible under the Valeant Agreement to receive royalties based on a specified percent of net sales of its EGP-437 Product for the field of anterior uveitis throughout the world, subject to adjustment in certain circumstances.

 

On February 21, 2017, the Company entered into another exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement with a subsidiary of Valeant (the “New Valeant Agreement”), through which the Company granted Valeant exclusive, worldwide commercial and manufacturing rights to its EGP-437 Product in the field of ocular iontophoretic treatment for post-operative ocular inflammation and pain in ocular surgery patients (the “New Field”). Under the New Valeant Agreement, Valeant paid the Company an initial upfront payment of $4.0 million, and the Company is eligible to receive milestone payments totaling up to approximately $99.0 million, upon and subject to the achievement of certain specified developmental and commercial progress of the EGP-437 Product for the New Field. The Company has received milestone payments totaling approximately $3.4 million through March 31, 2018. In accordance with its former revenue recognition policy, through December 31, 2017 the initial upfront payment and milestone payments were recorded as Deferred Revenue. In addition, the Company is eligible under the New Valeant Agreement to receive royalties based on a specified percent of net sales of its EGP-437 Product for the New Field throughout the world, subject to adjustment in certain circumstances.

 

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenues from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) (“ASU 2014-09”), as subsequently amended, that outlines a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers and supersedes most recent revenue recognition guidance, including industry-specific guidance. The core principle of the revenue model is that an entity recognizes revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. This standard is effective for public companies for years ending after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted.

 

The Company did not elect to early adopt and adopted the new standard on January 1, 2018, using the modified retrospective method, which provides for a cumulative effect adjustment in the amount of $9.5 million to beginning 2018 accumulated deficit and to deferred and unbilled revenue for the Valeant contracts impacted by the adoption of the new standard. The changes to the method and/or timing of the Company’s revenue recognition associated with the adoption of the new standard primarily relate to the determination that there is one performance obligation in each contract with Valeant and that the license combined with the R&D services is the performance obligation.

 

The cumulative effect of initially applying the new revenue recognition guidance to the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet on January 1, 2018 was as follows:

 

 

The impact from adopting the new revenue recognition guidance on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements was as follows:

 

 

Under this new guidance, the Company recognizes revenue when its customer obtains control of promised services, in an amount that reflects the consideration which the Company expects to receive in exchange for those services. To determine whether arrangements are within the scope of this new guidance, the Company performs the following five steps: (i) identifies the contract with a customer; (ii) identifies the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determines the transaction price; (iv) allocates the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognizes revenue when (or as) the Company satisfies its performance obligation. The Company applies the five-step model to contracts when it is probable that the Company will collect the consideration it is entitled to in exchange for the goods or services it transfers to the customer. Upon adoption of ASU 2014-09, the Company recognizes revenue from the transaction price applied to each single performance obligation over time as milestones are reached for each performance obligation. The Company only recognizes revenue on those milestones that are within the Company’s control and any constrained variable consideration that requires regulatory approval will only be included in the transaction price when performance is complete.

  

The below table represents the changes in the Company’s contract assets and contract liabilities:

 

 

 

In addition, the Company may receive government grant funds for specified ocular therapeutic research activities. Revenue under these grants will be recorded when the Company performs the activities specified by the terms of each grant and is entitled to the funds.

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (“ASU 2016-02”), which is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. Under ASU 2016-02, lessees will be required to recognize for all leases at the commencement date a lease liability, which is a lessee’s obligation to make lease payments arising from a lease measured on a discounted basis, and the right-to-use assets, which are asset that represents the lessee’s right to use or control the use of a specified asset for the lease term. The Company does not expect to early adopt this standard and currently has leases (see Note 9) that will be in place at the effective date. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that the new guidance will have on its Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures.

 

On January 26, 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other, which simplifies the accounting for goodwill impairment. The guidance removes Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test, which requires a hypothetical purchase price allocation. A goodwill impairment will now be the amount by which a reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill. All other goodwill impairment guidance will remain largely unchanged. Entities will continue to have the option to perform a qualitative assessment to determine if a quantitative impairment test is necessary. The same one-step impairment test will be applied to goodwill at all reporting units, even those with zero or negative carrying amounts. Entities will be required to disclose the amount of goodwill at reporting units with zero or negative carrying amounts. The new standard is effective for the Company on January 1, 2020. The new standard is required to be applied prospectively. Early adoption is permitted for any impairment tests performed after January 1, 2017. The Company is evaluating the effect that ASU No. 2017-04 will have on its Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures.